Clamp for securing an ink tube to a printing press ink pump

ABSTRACT

A device for clamping an ink reservoir to a duplicator ink pump, including a slidable jaw to pull the reservoir nozzle against an ink conduit and a feeler movable across a mouth of the jaw to detect the presence of a partly inserted nozzle and either to push the nozzle home or to prevent further sliding of the jaw.

UnitedStates Patent Inventor Albert George Ronald Gates Tottenham,England Appl. No. 801,906 Filed Feb. 20, 1969 Patented Feb. 2., 1971As'signee Gestetner Limited London, England a Britishcornpany PriorityFeb. 22, 1968 Great Britain 8764/68 CLAMP FDR SECUR N AN I NK TUBE TO APRINTENQ INK 13 we"; 5 Drawing Figs.

1'01/366, 222/325: 285/242, 285/33 Int. Cl, B411 31/08 501 FieldofSearch101/335,

366, 116, 119, 124; 248/(Inquired); 21l/(1nquired);222/8992, 325;285/242, 243,

['56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,143,885 1/1939 Kline101/366 2,143,886 1/1939 Kline 101/366 2,787,216 4/1957 Gates 101/366Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-J. Reed FisherAttorney-Cushamn, Darby & Cushman ABSTRACT: A device for clamping an inkreservoir to a duplicator ink pump, including a slidable jaw to pull thereservoir nozzle against an ink conduit and a feeler movable across amouth of the jaw to detect the presence of a partly inserted nozzle andeither to push the nozzle home or to prevent further sliding of the jaw.

CLAMP FOR SECURING AN INK TUBE TO A PRINTING PRESS INK PUMP The presentinvention provides an improvement relating to printing apparatus andmore particularly relates to an improved clamping device for securing anink tube to printing apparatus. such as a stencil duplicator Throughoutthis specification the term ink tube" is intended to represent an inkreservoir of the type comprising a collapsible container having a nozzlewhich is intended to be pulled firmly into engagement with an ink ductor pipe along which ink is to be sucked from the container by the inkpump of the apparatus.

According to the present invention we provide a device for clamping anink tube in relation to an ink supply passage of printing apparatus.such device comprising an ink conduit communicable with said ink supplypassage; an open sided jaw axially slidable with respect to said inkconduit and provided with an inwardly extending rib for engaging theunderside of an ink tube nozzle and a nozzle access passage forpermitting lateral sliding of a nozzle into a position on said jawcoaxial with said ink conduit; means for effecting clamping movement ofsaid jaw axially towards the ink conduit; and a feeler member arrangedto sense the presence of an ink tube not fully inserted into the jaw,said feeler member being effective either to move the ink tube into thefully inserted position or to prevent further movement of the jawtowards its fully clamped position until the partly inserted ink tubehas been sufficiently inserted into the jaw.

Preferably the feeler member may be mechanically linked to a clampoperating lever whereby movement of the clamp operating lever to aclamping position will effect tube sensing movement of the feeler memberacross the mouth of the nozzle access passage. Desirably the clampoperating lever may be arranged for camming engagement with the axiallyslidable jaw to effect upward sliding movement of the jaw upon movementof the clamp operating lever in an appropriate direction.

In one suitable embodiment of the invention the feeler member and theclamp operating lever may be formed as an integral structure. The clampoperating lever and the jaw may be linked by a camming mechanismcomprising a cam plate pivotally mounted with respect to the body of theink pump and provided with an arcuate slot which has its concave sidefacing the axis of pivoting of said cam plate and is arranged so thatthe ends of the slot are differently spaced from the pivoting axis, saidclamp jaw having a guide member projecting snugly into the arcuate slotwhereby pivotal movement of the cam plate causes movement of said guidemember towards or away from the axis of pivoting and results in movementof the slidable jaw. Conveniently the guide member may comprise a screwengaged in the threaded recess in the wall of the sliding jaw, suchscrew having a head larger than the transverse dimension of said slot.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention the feeler member maycomprise a lever pivotally mounted on the axially slidable jaw anddriven by abutting engagement with the clamp operating lever to passacross the tube access passage as the clamp operating lever is pivoted.In this case the feeler lever may suitably be of L-shaped form andpivoted at the free end of one of the limbs, the other limb of the Lconstituting the feeler, and the first mentioned limb of the L beingprovided with an arcuate extension which, when assembled together withthe remainder of the device, is arranged to lie above the comer of the Land to cooperate with the clamp operating lever to provide a cammingengagement for effecting sensing movement of the feeler.

In order that the present invention may more readily be understood, thefollowing description is given merely by way of example, reference beingmade to the accompanying drawings in which:

1 FIG. I is a side elevational view of an ink pump of a stencilduplicator, the pump of which incorporates the clamp of the presentinvention here shown in the closed position;

FIG. 2 is a view, similar to FIG. 1, but showing the clamp in the openposition, the remainder of the components of the pump being omitted;

FIG. 3 is an underneath plan view of the ink tube clamp shown in theFIG. 2 position;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of clamp of thisinvention. showing the clamp in the open condition; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing the clamp in closedcondition.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, there isshown an ink pump comprising a pump body I having a downwardly extendingclamp support 2 which carries a pivotally movable slotted cam plate 3having an operating lever 4.

An arcuate slot 5 in the cam plate has a screw 6 extending therethroughand threadedly received in a vertically movable clamp body 7 which isreciprocatable longitudinally of the ink inlet duct 8, extendingdownwardly from the clamp support 2. The lower wall of the clamp body 7includes a clamping flange 11 having an upper surface 10 which bearsagainst a suitably formed bearing surface on the underside of an inktube nozzle.

The cam plate 3 is mounted on the clamp support 2 by means of alaterally extending boss 9 formed on the back surface of the cam plate3, and engaging in a suitably formed recess in the front wall of theclamp support 2. The curvature of the slot 5 is such that the distanceof the axis of the boss 9 from the point A at one end of slot 5 isgreater than the distance between the axis of the boss 9 and point B atthe opposite end of the arcuate slot (see FIG. 2) thus, uponanticlockwise rotation of the cam plate 3 from the FIG. 1 position thescrew 6 fitting snugly within the slot 5 is caused to descend, carryingwith it the clamp body 7.

FIG. 2 shows the lowered position of the clamp body 7 in which theoperating lever 4 of the cam plate is in its raised position. As shownin this FIG. the clamp body 7 has descended relatively to the ink duct 8so that the clearance between the lower end of the duct 8 and the uppersurface 10 of the clamping flange 11 is greater than was the case inFIG. 1.

The screw 6 has a comparatively large diameter flat head 60 which bearsinwardly against a strip steel spring 12 disposed substantially parallelto the plane of the cam plate 3 and having at one end a tongue 13 whichengages within a slot formed in a lug 14 formed on the pump body. Thespring 12 serves both to retain the cam plate 3 in position on the clampsupport by preventing movement of the cam plate away from the surface ofthe clamp support, but also the spring is formed in a slightly bowedconfiguration so that the center of the spring is displaced from theplane joining the ends of the strip 12, so that the central part of thespring bears firmly against the front of the cam plate and exerts africtional force resisting rotation of the cam plate 3. This has theeffect that when the clamp body 7 is in its raised position and the camplate has been rotated to the FIG. 1 configuration, any tendency for theclamp body 7 to be lowered, by virtue of the bearing force of theshoulder of an ink tube against the upper face 10 of the clamping flange11, will be resisted since such downward movement of the clamp body 7will necessitate rotation of the cam plate 3. Thus, apart from thenatural geometric lock effect created by the slot 5, and screw 6arrangement there will also be the additional friction exerted by thecenter of the spring 12 bearing on the front face of the cam plate 3.

The screw 6 has a shank which has a wider diameter portion near thehead, such portion engaging snugly within the slot 5, but the free endof the shank is of a reduced diameter and has threads formed thereon forengagement in a suitably formed threaded recess in the clamp body 7.

may be exerted in order to rotate the cam plate upon insertion of an inktube. The cam plate 3 is also provided with an extension 16 having aperpendicularly extending lug 17 which, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, formsa continuation of the lateral all 18 of the nozzle-receiving recessformed in the clamp body, the edge 15 between the cam plate extension 16and the lug 17 being radiused as shown in FIG. 3. This lug therebyprovides a means of guiding the nozzle of an ink tube into positionwithin the nozzle receiving recess. and when the control lever 4 ismoved downwardly to its FIG. 1 position the lug l7 and the extension 16pass across the opening of the nozzle receiving recess and push thenozzle of an Ink tube in the aperture firmly into position in which theink tube nozzle is concentric with the lower end of the ink duct 8.

As the clamp body 7 is moved upwardly during the clamping operation thenozzle of an ink tube is also urged upwardly by engagement of thebearing surface on the underside of the nozzle with the nozzle bearingwall of the flange 11, the nozzle of the tube thereby being urgedagainst the lower end of the ink duct 8. Conventional ink tubes areprovided with a resilient washer set into the upper wall of the nozzle,this washer providing a seating against which the lower face of the inkduct 8 can engage and bear in order to provide an airtight seal betweenthe ink tube and the ink duct 8.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, as the cam plate 3 rotates between the FIG. 2and FIG. 1 positions, not only is the clamp body 7 raised, but also thestrip spring 12 is urged upwardly so that the tongue 13 protrudesfurther into the slot in the lug 14.

By way of further explanation the operation of the above described inktube clamping device will now be described. Initially the control lever4 is moved to its raised position in which the clamp body 7 is loweredand the clearance between the lower wall of the ink duct 8 from theupper bearing face 10 of clamping flange 11 is at a maximum. In thisposition, as described above, the lug 17 forms a continuation of thesidewall 18 of the nozzle receiving recess.

The noule of a full ink tube to be inserted in the machine is thenguided along the leftward laterally facing surface of the lug 17 andalong the sidewall 18 of the recess until it is in position within thenozzle-receiving recess so that the nozzle is coaxial with the ink duct8.

In this position the control lever 4 may be moved downwardly so that therear wall of the extension 16 of the cam plate 3 is able to pass acrossthe front of the nonlereceiving recess and move clockwise into the FIG.1 position. In the latter position the clamp body 7 is at its highestpoint and the bottom of the ink duct 8 is urged firmly into engagementwith the resilient washer of the ink tube nozzle. The ink pump may thenbe operated and ink drawn from the ink tube up into the inking mechanismof the duplicaton,

In the event that the noule of the full ink tube has not been moved farenough into the nozzle-receiving recess for operation of the pump,downward movement of the control lever 4 will cause the radiused edgebetween the leftward wall of the lug 17 and the rear wall of theextension 16 to strike the ink tube nozzle during lowering of thecontrol lever 4. Impact of this radiused edge 15 will either push theink tube nozzle laterally into position within the nozzle receivingrecess, or will cause the ink tube nozzle to be jammed between theradiused edge 15 of the extension 16 and the corner 19 at the lowerlefthand edge of the clamp body 7. Such jamming will easily be detectedby the operator of the duplicator since it will be impossible to movethe control lever 4 to its fully downurd position. There will thereforebe no likelihood of the stencil duplicator being operated before thetube is correctly in position. In the event of such jamming of the inktube nozzle the control lever 4 must be raised to free the noule andthen the nozzle should be pushed laterally into the correct position inwhich it is coaxial with the ink duct 8. Once the tube has been pushedinto the correct position the control lever 4 may then be lowered thusraising the clamping body 7 to hold the full ink tube in position in theduplicator.

In conventional duplicators the tube was clamped by a similar clamp body7 moving upwardly into engagement with a clamp support 2, but the camplate mechanism was mounted on the side of the clamp support 2 insteadof on the front, and also the clamp was able to be operated even if thenozzle of a full ink tube were not pressed fully home into its coaxialposition with respect to the ink duct 8. Thus it was possible for theclamp body 7 to be raised, urging the upper part of the full ink tubeinto engagement with the lower sealing edge of the ink duct 8 and, ifthe tube nozzle were badly out of line with respect to the ink duct thenconsiderable damage could be incurred by the top sealing face of thenozzle, rendering that particular tube unusable. With the apparatusillustrated it is impossible to raise the clamp body 7 until the inktube nozzle has been placed in its correct position coaxially with theink duct 8 and moreover, if it should occur that the ink tube nozzle isjammed between the comer 19 and the radiused edge 15 of the projection16, then the only damage sustained by the tube nozzle would be on thelateral wall of the nozzle rather than on the upper sealing face wheresuch damage might be critical.

The clamp of the present invention is advantageously of die castconstruction so that the clamp body 7 and the clamp support 2 areseparately cast components. The ink duct 8 is mounted within the clampsupport 2 by any suitable means and is fixed with respect thereto.

The integral unit comprising control lever 4, cam plate 3 and extension16 together with its lug 17 is advantageously moulded of a plasticsmaterial. However, this choice of materials for the various componentsof the clamp is preferable and is not intended to limit the invention inany way.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of an alternative form of ink tube clampcomprising a clamp operating lever 21 pivoted by means of two screws 20engaging in the upper part of the clamp body and passing freely throughrespective ears 22 of the clamp operating lever 21. The lower parts ofthe ears 22 are provided with recesses 5' on their inner faces, similarto the slot 5 of the previous embodiment and engaging with suitable pegs6 formed on the slidable lower clamp member or jaw 24.

A blanking lever 23 is pivotally mounted by means of a screw 25 to thefront of the lower slidable clamp member so as to be able to swingacross the front access aperture of the slidable clamp body. The lever23 is of L-shape having a rounded edge 26 to force home an ink reservoirtube which might have been inadvertently only half inserted in theaperture before operation of the clamping mechanism. The corner 27 ofthe L is, in the open position of FIG. 4 disposed directly below thelower edge 28 of the associated car 22 of the clamp operating lever.Moreover, the blanking lever 23 is provided with an arcuate upperextension 29 having a tip 29' which lies above the upper edge 30 of theassociated ear 22. The arcuate extension 29 is also provided with atransversely extending peg 31 shown more clearly in FIG. 5 as being ableto cooperate with an aperture 32 formed in the clamp operating lever 21.

The operation of this second embodiment of clamp is as follows:

As the clamp operating lever 21 is pivoted in the clockwise sense aboutthe screws 20, the cooperating action of the recesses 5' and theassociated pegs on the slidable clamp jaw 24 causes the clamp jaw 24 torise, in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3. Suchpivoting of the lever 21 causes raising of the slidable clamp jaw 24carrying the blanking lever 23 and simultaneous lowering of theassociated car 28 of the clamp operating lever, thereby urging the loweredge 28 of the car into abutting engagement with the comer 27 of theblanking lever, to cause clockwise pivotal movement of the blankinglever about the screw 25. In so doing, the curved edge 26 of theblanking lever will either force home a partly inserted ink tube, orwill be obstructed by such ink tube to prevent further clamping movementof the clamp operating lever 21.

During the clockwise pivoting of the blanking lever 23 the tip 29 willdescend remaining adjacent to the descending upper edge 30 of the ear22. This motion will continue until such time as the slidable clamp jaw24 has reached its upper limit of travel and further movement of theclamp operating lever is blocked.

Upon releasing movement of the clamp operating lever 21 the cooperationof the slot 5' and associated peg will cause downward movement of theclamp jaw 24 and simultaneously the cooperation of the upper edge 30 ofthe ear and the adjacent tip 29 of the blanking lever will initiateanticlockwise 5 pivotal movement of the blanking, lever about the screw25. Thus the peg 31 will move to the left as viewed in FIG. 5. untilsuch time as the upper edge 30 of the ear slides over the tip 29' and isunable to exert any further anticlockwise pivotal 31 will be in registerwith the mouth of the slot 32 so that further upward movement of theclamp operating lever 21 will cause the lower edge of the slot 32 tobear upwardly and left wardly against the pin 31 urging the pin furtherin the leftward direction until the FIG. 4 position is reached.

The construction of FIGS. 4 and 5 has the added advantage that unlikethe embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 the second embodiment has no requirementfor access of an operators hand to the side of the device.

1 claim:

1. A device for clamping an ink tube having an outlet nozzle providedwith projecting means having an underside in relation to an ink supplypassage of printing apparatus. such device comprising in combination:

a. ink conduit means communicable with said ink supply passage;

b. open sided jaw means axially slidable with respect to said inkconduit between a clamping position and a releasing position;

c. an inwardly extending rib on said open sided jaw means for engagingthe underside of said ink tube nozzle projecting means;

d. nozzle access passage means permitting lateral sliding of said inktube nozzle into position on said jaw means coaxial with said inkconduit;

e. means for effecting clamping movement of said jaw means axiallytowards said ink conduit; and

f. movable feeler means for sensing the presence of said ink t-ube whennot fully inserted into the jaw means, said feeler means being coupledto said jaw moving means to prevent movement of the jaw means into fullyclamped position when the ink tube nozzle is not fully inserted.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle access passagemeans has at least one wall for guiding the nozzle during insertionthereinto, and wherein said feeler means comprises guide surface meansthereon to form a continuation of said nozzle access passage means wallwhen said jaw means are in said releasing position.

3. A device according to claim 1, and including abutment means formed onsaid feeler means for pushing home said nozzle when said nozzle is in apartly inserted position with relation to said jaw means. i

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein said jaw moving meanscomprises a clamp operating lever movable between a clamping positionand a releasing position and mechanically linked to the feeler meanswhereby movement of the clamp operating lever to said clamping positionwill effect tube sensing movement of the feeler means across the mouthof the nonle access passage means.

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the feeler means and the clampoperating lever are formed as an integral structure.

6. A device according to claim 4, wherein the feeler means comprises alever pivotally mounted on the axially slidable jaw means and drivableby abutting engagement by the clamp operating lever to pass across thetube access passage means moment on the blanking lever. However. by thistime the peg l as the clamp operating lever is pivoted between theclamping and releasing positions.

7. A device according to claim 6. wherein the feeler lever is ofL-shaped form comprising:

g. a first limb; h. pivotal mounting means near the free end of saidfirst limb j. a second limb perpendicular to the first limb and constituting a feeler member; and

k. an arcuate extension on said first limb which lies above the cornerof the L and cooperates with the clamp operating lever means to providea camming engagement for effecting nozzle sensing movement of thefeeler.

8. A device according to claim 7. and including an ear formed on saidclamp operating lever means for abutting engagement with said first limbfor camming movement towards said clamping position and for abuttingengagement with said arcuate extension for camming movement towards thereleasing position.

9. A device according to claim 8, and including:

l. cam slot means formed in said operating lever means; and

m. a peg on said arcuate extension and engageable with said cam slotmeans, whereby said abutting engagement of the ear with the extension isaugmented by engagement of said peg and said cam slot means.

10. A device according to claim 4. and including cam means connectedbetween the clamp operating lever means and the axially slidable jawmeans. for effecting upward sliding move ment of the jaw means uponmovement of the clamp operating lever means from the releasing positionto the clamping position.

11. A device according to claim 10, wherein said cam means. comprises:

n. a cam plate pivotally mounted with respect said ink conduit means;

0. an arcuate slot formed in said cam plate and having a concave sidefacing the axis of pivoting of said cam plate and arranged with the endsof the slot differently spaced from said pivoting axis; and

p. a guide member projecting snugly into said arcuate slot wherebypivotal movement of the cam plate causes movement of said guide membertowards or away from said axis of pivoting movement and results inmovement of the slidable jaw means.

12. A device according to claim 11, wherein said guide member comprises:

q. threaded recess means in the wall of the sliding jaw means;

r. a screw;

5. a threaded shank of said screw arranged for threaded engagement withsaid recess means and having a diameter substantially equal to thetransverse dimension of said slot; and

t. a head on said screw larger than said transverse dimension of theslot.

13. A device according to claim 12, in combination with said printingapparatus which has an ink pump with a body and further including:

u. a resilient strip through one end of which said shank of the screwpasses; and

v. suitably formed aperture means in the pump body slidably receivingthe other end of said strip, the strip being bowed whereby the midpointof the strip is displaced from a plane joining the ends of the strip andthe strip being assembled with respect to the cam plate with themidpoint of the strip bearing against the cam plate.

1. A device for clamping an ink tube having an outlet nozzle providedwith projecting means having an underside in relation to an ink supplypassage of printing apparatus, such device comprising in combination: a.ink conduit means communicable with said ink supply passage; b. opensided jaw means axially slidable with respect to said ink conduitbetween a clamping position and a releasing position; c. an inwardlyextending rib on said open sided jaw means for engaging the underside ofsaid ink tube nozzle projecting means; d. nozzle access passage meanspermitting lateral sliding of said ink tube nozzle into position on saidjaw means coaxial with said ink conduit; e. means for effecting clampingmovement of said jaw means axially towards said ink conduit; and f.movable feeler means for sensing the presence of said ink tube when notfully inserted into the jaw means, said feeler means being couplEd tosaid jaw moving means to prevent movement of the jaw means into fullyclamped position when the ink tube nozzle is not fully inserted.
 2. Adevice according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle access passage means hasat least one wall for guiding the nozzle during insertion thereinto, andwherein said feeler means comprises guide surface means thereon to forma continuation of said nozzle access passage means wall when said jawmeans are in said releasing position.
 3. A device according to claim 1,and including abutment means formed on said feeler means for pushinghome said nozzle when said nozzle is in a partly inserted position withrelation to said jaw means.
 4. A device according to claim 1, whereinsaid jaw moving means comprises a clamp operating lever movable betweena clamping position and a releasing position and mechanically linked tothe feeler means whereby movement of the clamp operating lever to saidclamping position will effect tube sensing movement of the feeler meansacross the mouth of the nozzle access passage means.
 5. A deviceaccording to claim 4, wherein the feeler means and the clamp operatinglever are formed as an integral structure.
 6. A device according toclaim 4, wherein the feeler means comprises a lever pivotally mounted onthe axially slidable jaw means and drivable by abutting engagement bythe clamp operating lever to pass across the tube access passage meansas the clamp operating lever is pivoted between the clamping andreleasing positions.
 7. A device according to claim 6, wherein thefeeler lever is of L-shaped form comprising: g. a first limb; h. pivotalmounting means near the free end of said first limb; j. a second limbperpendicular to the first limb and constituting a feeler member; and k.an arcuate extension on said first limb which lies above the corner ofthe L and cooperates with the clamp operating lever means to provide acamming engagement for effecting nozzle sensing movement of the feeler.8. A device according to claim 7, and including an ear formed on saidclamp operating lever means for abutting engagement with said first limbfor camming movement towards said clamping position and for abuttingengagement with said arcuate extension for camming movement towards thereleasing position.
 9. A device according to claim 8, and including: l.cam slot means formed in said operating lever means; and m. a peg onsaid arcuate extension and engageable with said cam slot means, wherebysaid abutting engagement of the ear with the extension is augmented byengagement of said peg and said cam slot means.
 10. A device accordingto claim 4, and including cam means connected between the clampoperating lever means and the axially slidable jaw means, for effectingupward sliding movement of the jaw means upon movement of the clampoperating lever means from the releasing position to the clampingposition.
 11. A device according to claim 10, wherein said cam means,comprises: n. a cam plate pivotally mounted with respect said inkconduit means; o. an arcuate slot formed in said cam plate and having aconcave side facing the axis of pivoting of said cam plate and arrangedwith the ends of the slot differently spaced from said pivoting axis;and p. a guide member projecting snugly into said arcuate slot wherebypivotal movement of the cam plate causes movement of said guide membertowards or away from said axis of pivoting movement and results inmovement of the slidable jaw means.
 12. A device according to claim 11,wherein said guide member comprises: q. threaded recess means in thewall of the sliding jaw means; r. a screw; s. a threaded shank of saidscrew arranged for threaded engagement with said recess means and havinga diameter substantially equal to the transverse dimension of said slot;and t. a head on said screw larger than said transverse dimension of theslot.
 13. A device according to claim 12, in combination wiTh saidprinting apparatus which has an ink pump with a body and furtherincluding: u. a resilient strip through one end of which said shank ofthe screw passes; and v. suitably formed aperture means in the pump bodyslidably receiving the other end of said strip, the strip being bowedwhereby the midpoint of the strip is displaced from a plane joining theends of the strip and the strip being assembled with respect to the camplate with the midpoint of the strip bearing against the cam plate.